FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 1, 2013
For more information, please contact: Rod Lew (510) 318-7814; rodlew@appealforhealth.org
CDC Continues National Tobacco Education Campaign with a
Special Effort to Target Asian American Smokers
Oakland, CA – The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is making a special effort to reach out to Asian American smokers as part of their “Tips from Former Smokers” campaign. The CDC will place ads that include a “tip” to encourage smokers to call the Asian Smokers’ Quitline in various Asian-language newspapers across the country. The Asian Smokers’ Quitline is a free nationwide program offering a variety of services: self-help materials, a referral list of other cessation programs, one-on-one counseling over the phone, and a free two-week starter kit of nicotine patches. In-language services are available to those who speak Chinese, Korean and Vietnamese languages.
Continuing with the success of last year’s national tobacco education campaign, the second series of advertisements in the “Tips from Former Smokers” campaign will feature real people who are living with the effects of smoking-related diseases. The newest ads in the campaign tell the story of how real people’s lives were changed forever due to their smoking or exposure to secondhand smoke. The ads will air starting today until June 23 and they highlight stories of individuals from the African American, Latino, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender (LGBT), and Native American/Alaska Native communities.
“We applaud the efforts of the CDC to target priority populations including the Asian American community. We know the Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (AA and NHPI) community suffers disproportionately from tobacco and we appreciate how the CDC is dedicating resources to addressing tobacco disparities. We hope future efforts are expanded to include Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders, and other Asian subgroups,” said Rod Lew, executive director of APPEAL.
Research shows that Asian Americans are impacted by tobacco at higher rates. Two national studies, the National Latino and Asian American Study (NLAAS) and the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), show that the prevalence of smoking is extremely high among Vietnamese American and Korean American men – around 1 in 3 are smokers. While there is limited data collected on Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders, some of the data suggests that Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander children start smoking at a very early age and that the prevalence of smoking among both men and women in Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander communities is also very high.
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Asian Pacific Partners for Empowerment, Advocacy and Leadership (APPEAL), founded in 1994, is a national organization working towards social justice and a tobacco-free Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander community. APPEAL’s mission is to champion social justice and achieve parity and empowerment for Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders by supporting and mobilizing community-led movements through advocacy and leadership development on critical public health issues. To learn more about APPEAL, please visit: www.appealforcommunities.org. For more information on Asian Smokers’ Helpline, visit their website at: www.asiansmokersquitline.org and for details on the “Tips from Former Smokers” campaign, please visit: www.cdc.gov/tobacco/campaign/